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Vital Information and Resources for Westchester’s Nonprofits


  • COVID-19 Resources for Nonprofits and Community-Based Organizations from the New York State Health Foundation
  • NY State PAUSE Law in Effect and What it Means to Your Nonprofit and Constituents
  • Information from My Sisters’ Place to Protect Your Employees and Clients
  • Advocacy for Inclusion in Federal Stimulus

Resources for Nonprofits from the New York State Health Foundation
COVID-19 Resources for Nonprofits and Community-Based Organizations from the New York State Health Foundation. 
You will find HERE comprehensive information on:

  • Employment/Workers’ Rights
  • Food Assistance
  • Guidance/Assistance for Nonprofits and Community-Based Organizations
  • Health and Safety (General)
  • Health Care Services
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Housing
  • Immigration
  • Mental Health Resources

NY State PAUSE Law in Effect and What it Means to Your Nonprofit and Constituents

Governor Andrew Cuomo's "New York State on PAUSE" Executive Order is now in effect.   

  • All non-essential businesses statewide must close in-office personnel functions.
  • Essential businesses can be founding HERE.
  • If you feel you are an essential service and are not listed, request a waiver HERE

Governor Cuomo released two new Executive Orders on Saturday. They can be found respectively,  HERE and and HERE. Some summary bullet points:  

  1. Court operations are now limited to essential matters.
    Driver licenses and vehicle registrations that expired after March 1, 2020 are considered valid until the executive order is rescinded.
  2. Evictions or foreclosures on both individuals and corporate entities are suspended for 90 days.
  3. Sales tax payment from businesses to the state is deferred for 60 days.
  4. Forbearance of payments for a mortgage for any person or entity facing a financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  5. ATM fees, overdraft fees and credit card late fees may be restricted by the Department of Financial Services.

Information from My Sisters’ Place to Protect Your Employees and Clients

Our colleagues at My Sister’s Place (MSP) have shared important information and perspective about protecting your employees, particularly people of color, now that NY State’s PAUSE initiative has gone into effect requiring 100% of non-essential employees to work remotely.  While the measures described below are not mandatory, they are an important precautionary measure.  Please see these letters, which can be adapted by non-profit and other businesses that are providing essential services. 

Protecting Employees

Once the Governor announced that 100% of employees would need to work remotely except for 'essential employees' (which includes domestic violence organization staff, anyone working at a community shelter, and several other types of organizations), shelter staff at My Sister’s Place, who are largely people of color, began expressing concerns about possibly being profiled or stopped by law enforcement and questioned as to why they were out and about. The first letter was created so that they had something to carry on their person in the event that this happens. As we know from our Undoing Racism work, these fears are a terrifying reality for POC. 

Staff Travel Letter

Testing for Staff and Clients in Congregate Care Settings

The other two letters are to facilitate getting clients and staff, respectively, within agencies providing essential services, tested for COVID-19. MSP had both situations arise just yesterday and believe that the client letter played a crucial role in having one of our shelter residents tested at an urgent care facility.

My Sister’s Place has made the decision to pay all co-pays for shelter staff and resident who need to get tested in an effort to further support workers on the frontlines and clients who are vulnerable on many levels.   My Sister’s Place and NPW offer many, many thanks to Robi Schlaff from OFW and Joe Glazer, DCMH (working to help DOH with COVID-19 at this time). They have been tremendously supportive during a difficult time. Please contact Amy Siniscalchi with any questions at asiniscalchi@mspny.org.

Staff Testing Letter
Client Testing Letter

Advocacy for Inclusion in Federal Stimulus

We are sharing this information HERE and below from the Independent Sector about advocacy on the Federal level. Situations are evolving as Senate Democrats and Republicans are in negotiations.

  1. Expressly include charitable nonprofits in the $200 billion loan fund for businesses, including airlines. The charitable sector needs an immediate infusion of $60 billion and the loan program is a fast way to get cash in the hands of organizations serving immediate needs in communities while facing losses in revenue due to the pandemic.

  2. Improve the above-the-line charitable deduction by raising the cap to $2,000 and allowing all taxpayers to immediately claim the deduction on their 2019 taxes (due on July 15) and afterwards through 2021.

  3. Clarify that charitable nonprofits of all sizes can participate in the emergency Small Business Loan Program by using the tax-law definition of charitable organizations (501(c)(3) public charities) and removing the language that excludes nonprofits that are eligible to receive Medicaid reimbursements.

  4. Universal Charitable Deduction.  There is some promising news in an amendment that Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) plans to propose regarding the universal charitable deduction. It would increase the cap on deductions to roughly $4,000 for individuals and $8,000 for married couples. It would be available for all of 2020. Because these caps represent a dramatic improvement from the underlying bill, Independent Sector strongly supports the amendment. We encourage you to join in support of the Lankford amendment by signing a letter of endorsement here.

Please send any questions you may have to Publicpolicy@independentsector.org and copy jfisher@npwestchester.org.


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